Development Update October 2015

Hey guys,

Here is the dev update for October.

First let me recap on some things that happened during September.

The obvious thing to discuss is the 1.5.0 OpenBeta release and I hope you've all enjoyed flying Hawk around in it, I certainly have.

We have had some valuable feedback from you and our testers to the bugs that have arisen in 1.5.0 and I'd like to assure you that we are working on them.

We have taken on new team members to help out with various projects and they've started to integrate well into the team and their respective projects.

Pete and I allocate resource where we best need it and best suited to the skill of the person. That could be working on bugs or additional features across multiple projects depending on their skill set.

I will be interviewing a few more people with Pete over the coming weeks to increase our already sizeable team.

I'd also like to extend huge thanks to other 3rd party devs for their support and help in trying to nail down bugs and issues. It's great to work with you for a common goal!!

Hawk

1.5.0 OB has thrown up some unexpected bugs and we are working through those. See my other post regarding what we're working on and again many thanks for your reports and feedback.

EFM development is well underway and I have been flying around this week on our own flight model which is a big milestone for me personally. It still needs a few tweaks before I can give it to the Hawk pilots and our testers for feedback and we have a team meeting tonight to discuss just this.

Keep an eye out for some more news towards the end of the month.

Radios is next on the list to tackle with the new resource as it drives me nuts that we haven't been able to get them working effectively since the product released almost a year ago!!

We are essentially going to start again from scratch on the radios as trying to work out why the existing code is not working has been eluding us for a long time now.

Our mission designer Javelin has had some issues at home and has had to focus on his family. I'm catching up with him next week to see where he's at with some additional training missions he's been working on for a while now.

I hope you've listened to Jav in the updated Cold Start training mission and we certainly look forward to bringing more advanced training missions with his voice soon.

I've thoroughly enjoyed flying his VFR navigation mission recently testing it.

Close Air Support

A lot of people don't think Hawk is an effective war machine and is just a trainer. Well we hope to change that view with some planned advanced CAS missions with our partner Close Air Solutions which I've mentioned in the past. More details on that soon.

New cockpit textures have been delayed slightly whilst we are fixing issues with the updated P-40F cockpit textures but the artist has started on the Hawk ones.

So, when will it be out of Beta I hear some of you asking on various forums. Well, when EFM and radios are complete the jet will be feature complete and out of Beta development.

I've already covered rear cockpit integration in the September update; however I am still evaluating the code to see if we can at least switch seats visually. It's not as simple as switching the view point unfortunately.

Typhoon

Work is well underway with my beloved Tiffy and we're making good progress on the digital displays.

Right now we are working on our "demo" version of the aircraft until such time as the new external and cockpit 3D model are complete.

Now I'll hand you over to Pete for his update.

Thanks,

Chris.

P-40F

Well it’s fair to say that we have hit a few snags along the road with the development of the P-40F. The 2 largest ones include calculations on prop efficiency and a bug with the landing gear compression.

The landing gear compression issue is to do with the way that the “overall downforce” is calculated, for example, weight of the aircraft vs lift generated or in some circumstances downforce generated. This will in basic terms allow us to calculate how low the aircraft should sit in its compression. The aircraft was sitting too high on its gear and causing to be top heavy on the ground and unstable on the take-off or landing roll. We think we have this under control now and testing is carrying on.

The Prop Eff issue is to do with the thrust generation from changes to the prop (Pitch, Speed etc) we haven’t got a power curve that I am happy with yet.

Once this has been done we will get more pilot feedback and then out to our testers.

Externally the textures are pretty much finished and the damage model has been implemented and tested (it works!) The cockpit textures are being updated as I type this and will be ready for the Open Beta.

Our internal testers have been shooting down the P-40 for a few weeks now and the AI is behaving reasonably well J

We have agreed with The Fighter Collection to use their P-40F for sound recording, sadly due to operational requirements we were unable to do this before the winter shutdown and now we will have to wait until the Spring (April) before we can record the sounds. Until then we expect P-40 to use the stock DCS prop sounds. I feel it is better to wait to obtain the real recordings then to try and artistically create them.

Other Projects

I am not going to go into too many details about the other projects but I will touch on a few things.

Meteor is mesh complete and external and internal texturing has begun. The EFM and ASM are in the basic stage and work will continue after Hawk’s EFM is completed.

Vampire has had some cockpit revisions after a long set of discussions with some experienced Vampire pilots, the problem with this aircraft is that there is no “stock” configuration so it’s had to have a few revisions. External mesh is Complete and texturing has begun. Expect this after Meteor.

Bearcat is having some major remodelling work done after the illness that befell the previous modeller, I have had to accept that this is going to be shunted into the long grass, however I have lined up another cat to replace it in the shorter term, this aircraft is mesh complete and external and internal textures are in an advanced stage. EFM and ASM are in the basic stage and development will continue once P-40F is in open beta.

Other projects – More on them closer to the time.

Well I guess that’s the lot from me

All the best

Pman

Cool. Thanks guys!

Thanks, Ells (and Pman)!

Excellent news gents. Roll on the EFM

Updates appreciated as ever, glad to hear you are still hoping to implement the rear seat in the Hawk for single player flights. The new missions to really show off the Hawks teeth sound very interesting also.

Love it, thanks for the insights guys.

Updates appreciated as ever, glad to hear you are still hoping to implement the rear seat in the Hawk for single player flights. The new missions to really show off the Hawks teeth sound very interesting also.

Pete and I flew a mission with Gareth from CAS a while back. I've never been so taxed and excited flying combat in all of the many hours I've flown combat in the A-10C. Using your eyes to spot targets is really great fun when you're being talked on. TGP pah!!!

Pete and I flew a mission with Gareth from CAS a while back. I've never been so taxed and excited flying combat in all of the many hours I've flown combat in the A-10C. Using your eyes to spot targets is really great fun when you're being talked on. TGP pah!!!

yeah was a great evening's fun and added alot of immersion to the DCS environment, combined with the EFM it makes the Hawk an entirely new beast

Pman

Thanks for the update..

"I'd also like to extend huge thanks to other 3rd party devs for their support and help in trying to nail down bugs and issues. It's great to work with you for a common goal!!"

And just how cool is that? :thumbup:

Excellent post. Thank you for keeping all of us in the loop. It is much appreciated!

Pman...are you referring to a Wildcat?? :D

-Nick

Go VEAO! Waiting for P-40 pretty much!

Yes, thanks guys. I do hope you'll be able to re-visit the Hawk rear seat in multiplayer some day, but progress sounds very good indeed.

Best wishes to all your staff, and I hope they can overcome their respective issues, and get back into the fold soon. I'm sure I speak for a number of us when I ask you to pass on our regards and encouragement.

Well, when EFM and radios are complete the jet will be feature complete and out of Beta development.

What about the 30mm ADEN Gunpod?

Really appreciate the continued updates. You guys set the standard.

Cheers

What about the 30mm ADEN Gunpod?

I'm hoping to have that done before OB goes public ;)

Thanks for your support guys and I'll pass on your regards to Jav.

Thanks for the update Ells. F6F Hellcat or F4F Wildcat perhaps replacing Bearcat? :)

Thanks for the update guys!

Keep it up :thumbup:

however I have lined up another cat to replace it in the shorter term

Do I need to make HMS Colossus??:D

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to flying the EFM Hawk!

Thank you for the update. any news about the eurofighter?

Thank you for the update. any news about the eurofighter?

uh....

read the first post....

Pman

Fantastic news on the Meteor.

On the Hawk, will the gunsight be usable soon? And how will it work?

Thanks for the update guys! It's good to see that things are coming together for y'all. Can't wiat to fly the P-40.